So now with the release of Microsoft’s Xbox One this past weekend, The next-gen consoles are finally out. We covered the box opening for the PS4, It’s now time to take a look at the Xbox One.

THE CONSOLE

Taking a look at it, it’s a large console. No two ways about it. But it does look sleek, “executive” I guess would be a good word to use for the look, with a glossy finish (hello fingerprints). Along with the Kinect, which looks more solidly built, it could take up some space in your home set up. The Xbox logo lights up when the console is turned on. There was not much noise coming from the console itself as far as I could tell, but then again, my 360 has an external fan attached to it when it turns on, so I guess anything would be less noisy than what I deal with now.

DAT CONTROLLER

As I know you all heard on “The Great Debate” podcast, Dre, Franc and I agreed that Xbox had a superior controller to Playstation. At a quick glance, one would think not much changed, you would be right. But that’s why you need to take a closer look! The battery pack is no longer protruding out of the back of the controller. Instead, it fits flush with the rest of the controller which makes the handling much better. The joysticks are taller, and there is a ridge on the inside of the stick to increase thumb grip. A nice added touch if you picked it up on opening day is that the controller that comes in the box has “Day One 2013” printed on it in the center.

One thing I noticed, or maybe failed to notice, was how each controller indicated what number player you are. My cousin and I were playing two player, and there was nothing to let me know which controller was P1 or P2….very strange. Hopefully I just missed it.

KINECT

This bad boy has some serious technology. While switching through the modes of the lens, I’m pretty sure it has a thermal sensor which is…cool/creepy. You can tell the optics are upgraded though. We tested the Skype feature using the Kinect, and something amazing happened. Whoever is holding the controller for the main account i.e. the Xbox Live account, the Kinect uses facial recognition to find your face. If you begin to walk around the room on the call, the Kinect follows you! And makes sure you are still in the frame on the call, how wild is that!

That of course leads us right into the voice command feature of the Kinect. In short, it does not disappoint. To turn on voice commands, all one needs to do is say, “Xbox,” and it will await your command. The only “thing” one might point out is you have to know what the commands are. But, the Xbox lets you know by highlighting words on the screen a green color. For example, if you are at the home screen, just about all the pins you see will have their names written in green while the Kinect is “listening.” And yes, in the top right corner of the screen, the Xbox will let you know it’s listening. You can say “stop listening” to turn off the voice commands.

Switching between apps was a breeze, and it was surprisingly quick. We unfortunately did not have the cable box running through the Xbox, but I don’t see any reason as to why switching between TV and the Xbox input would be much slower. Microsoft definitely gets a win with this feature.

THE DASHBOARD

Not much changed with the dashboard. It still have the same look and feel from the Xbox 360, but if it aint broke, don’t fix it. There are obviously some added features and applications, but nothing too huge to not mention. If you are an experienced Xbox user, you’ll find the comfort of familiarity, and if this is your first time with Xbox, you’ll notice how simple it is to navigate the home screen. Plus, if you can’t find something, just say, “Xbox {insert what you want to find}” and it more than likely will bring up that screen.

GRAPHICS

So I played three games, Killer Instinct, Battlefield 4, and Dead Rising. Going into this, I didn’t expect a huge improvement in the graphics as the previous generation had. However, you will notice the improvements, especially in BF4. Everything looks incredibly crisp and vibrant. The water is especially noticeable. I would like to point out that BF4 was bugging out hard while we were playing, and even kicked me out back into the home screen of the Xbox, not into the game lobby. KI also had that “Fresh off the Federal Reserve printing press $20 bill” look to it. DR3 is more of an open world type game where I noticed the least improvement in graphics, but like I said before, I was not expecting the biggest improvement in the look of most games.

CAN'T HAVE A "RED RING OF DEATH" IF YOU REMOVE THE LIGHT RING!

There have been reports that, and now thought to be much more common than previously thought, Xbox One’s are being shipped out with dead disk drives. There is not much that is more disappointing than getting your brand new console and having it dead on arrival. Xbox as of 11/24/2013 has not yet commented on the issue but I expect they will in the very near future, aka when they figure out what to do. But hey, if you listened to “The Great Debate” podcast, you know we told you to wait. We give nothing but expert opinions and scientific facts. (Do note that PAUSED! does not give expert opinions OR scientific facts).

THE ROUNDUP

This looks like it is going to be another neck and neck race between the Xbox and Playstation. The Kinect however, might be the ace up the Xbox’s sleeve with the great voice commands feature and integrating your television for ease of use. If Microsoft gets the disk drive issue resolved quickly and at no cost to it’s customers, this could be a great console for many years to come.

We'd love to hear from you out there in PAUSED! Nation. What are your thoughts, concerns or fears with the new XBOX ONE? Share with us what you love, and/or hate about the new system.

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